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OriolesREACH and Baltimore City Schools continue partnership

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Continuing their ongoing partnership, OriolesREACH and Baltimore City Schools have planned a series of activities in the coming weeks, including hosting over 7,000 students as part of Baltimore City Schools Night at Oriole Park this Thursday and numerous player appearances at City Schools in support of the City Schools' initiative to promote three core pillars of success among students - attendance, diversity and teamwork --over the final month of the school year. These pillars were identified as core character traits for students by Baltimore City Schools.

Pitchers JASON HAMMEL and MIGUEL GONZALEZ are among those Orioles players who will visit city schools over the next month to support these initiatives, which include the "FAN"tastic Attendance, "Let's Play Fair" and "Working Together to Win" programs.

Hammel will visit Curtis Bay Elementary School as a reward for those students who have reduced their absences by 50% through the "FAN"tastic Attendance Program. Curtis Bay Elementary students who qualify for perfect or improved attendance awards will receive a photo opportunity with the Oriole Bird, and top attendance award winners will receive an Orioles prize pack, including game tickets and promotional items. Hammel will also record a message encouraging regular school attendance and punctuality that will be played over City Schools public address systems.

Gonzalez will make an appearance at Highlandtown Elementary/Middle School #237, where 50% of the students are Spanish-speaking. Gonzalez will speak in Spanish with an English interpreter about cultural diversity and good sportsmanship as part of the "Let's Play Fair" program. After the visit, students will complete a writing assignment to research other notable figures who have had to persevere in the face of challenges. Students who write the top three essays will receive an Orioles prize pack, including game tickets.

Other Orioles players will make appearances in the coming weeks at City Schools to lead students in physical exercises together to promote teamwork as part of the "Working Together to Win" program. The dates and times for these appearances will be announced soon.

The first events of the partnership will take place as part of Baltimore City Schools Night at Oriole Park this Thursday, May 9, when the Orioles will host over 7,000 Baltimore City School students for the game against the Kansas City Royals and host 75 deserving City School students in a fully-catered party suite.

To help encourage regular school attendance, the Orioles offered a fully-catered party catered suite for Thursday's game to the two schools that showed the most improvement in attendance between March 15 and April 22. Baltimore Antioch Diploma Plus and Steuart Hill Academic Academy won the challenge, and 75 students from these schools will enjoy Thursday's game from a suite on the Club Level.

In pre-game ceremonies on Thursday, Baltimore City Teacher of the Year Ketia Stokes, a 6th-8th grade special education teacher from Green Street Academy, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch, accompanied by Baltimore City Schools CEO Dr. Andres Alonso and City Schools Teacher of the Year finalists. The finalists will enjoy that night's game from a private suite courtesy of NICK and CHRISTINA MARKAKIS, through their Right Side Foundation.

The National Anthem will be performed by Western High School's "Sounds Unlimited" chorus and the Patterson High School Color Guard will present colors before the game.

This past Saturday, for the second consecutive year, Oriole Park at Camden Yards hosted the Baltimore City Public High School Championship game. Digital Harbor won the championship over Poly Technic 11-1 in a rematch of last year's game. The players from Digital Harbor will be recognized in a pre-game ceremony on Thursday.

AT THE BALLPARK

DARREN O'DAY, CHRIS DAVIS PARTNER WITH LUKE'S WINGS
New this season, Orioles players DARREN O'DAY and CHRIS DAVIS will make a donation based on their on-field performance to Luke's Wings, a non-profit military organization dedicated to the support of current and former service members who have been wounded in battle. O'Day will donate $40 for every batter he strikes out and Davis will donate $100 for every home run he hits to the cause.

Recognizing the immediate need for families to be with their loved ones at such a difficult time, Luke's Wings provides families with the means to visit injured service members during their hospitalization and rehabilitation. By purchasing travel agency services and travel tickets for loved ones, Luke's Wings provides an immediate and invaluable service to the families of our men and women at arms while also helping to encourage and motivate the service member's recovery or provide comfort during the final stages of life. Luke's Wings also partners with other non-profits who can provide other free or discounted services, including accommodations, meals and local entertainment.

JACKIE ROBINSON AUCTION
In recognition of the 66th anniversary of the day Jackie Robinson became the first African-American player in Major League Baseball, all Orioles uniformed personnel wore #42, Robinson's number, for their game against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 16. Each player's authenticated, game-worn and autographed #42 jersey was auctioned at www.orioles.com to benefit the Baltimore Orioles Charitable Foundation and the Jackie Robinson Foundation, raising a total of $ 23,116.30.

HALOTI NGATA FIRST PITCH
Tonight, Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle HALOTI NGATA will throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the game against the Kansas City Royals. Selected in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft, Ngata has been selected to the Pro Bowl four times.

ALL-STAR BALLOT CEREMONY
On July 16, the 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game will take place at Citi Field in New York. The Firestone Major League Baseball All-Star Balloting Program gives fans across the Major Leagues the opportunity to make their voices heard. Over the next eight weeks, fans around the world will have a chance to take part in one of the game's greatest traditions by casting their vote to select the starting lineups for this year's Midsummer Classic.

Since 1970, fans have cast billions of votes to select the American League and National League starters. The Major League Baseball All-Star Balloting Program is the largest fan balloting program in professional sports. To officially launch the 2013 Firestone All-Star Balloting program, Rob Baker, a Firestone representative, will officially cast this season's first ballots on Thursday, May 9 at Oriole Park. Orioles fans will have the opportunity to vote at each home game from today through June 25, along with the chance to register to win great prizes as part of the Vote Orange Rewards Program.

BACK TO THE OLD BALL GAME EVENT WITH DIXON AND SNELL
On Saturday, May 11, former Orioles pitchers KEN DIXON and NATE SNELL will sign autographs at the annual "Back to the Old Ball Game" Day of Honors event to benefit the Hubert V. Simmons Negro League Baseball Museum of Maryland. The event will be from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at The Forum Caterers, 4210 Primrose Ave. in Baltimore.

ORIOLES REACH COMMUNITY BOOTH
During each home game the Orioles provide a community booth for charitable, non-profit organizations to distribute information, sell raffle tickets, register participants or conduct health care screenings for Orioles fans. The following groups will be at the community booth, located near Gate D, during this homestand:

ORIOLES REACH GAMEDAY EXPERIENCE PROGRAM
This season, OriolesREACH will again host thousands of underprivileged youth as part of the Gameday Experience Program. Group members receive game tickets, concessions vouchers, an Orioles t-shirt, a cap and transportation to and from the game. Tickets are provided courtesy of Orioles players. Players participating in the program this year include JAKE ARRIETA, WILSON BETEMIT, ALEXI CASILLA, WEI- YIN CHEN, JASON HAMMEL, J.J. HARDY, TOMMY HUNTER, ADAM JONES, BRIAN MATUSZ, NICK MARKAKIS, NATE MCLOUTH, CHRIS TILLMAN, TSUYOSHI WADA and MATT WIETERS. The following organizations will attend games at Oriole Park during this homestand, courtesy of these Orioles players: